Medvedev calls for six-year presidential term

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
called for the extension the presidential term from four to six years in his
first state-of-the-nation address since succeeding Vladimir Putin on Wednesday,
reported dpa.

Medvedev, 43, addressing the
country's top political elite, gathered in the Kremlin's opulent St George
Hall, said the change would allow the government to carry through more
effectively with its reforms.

He also proposed extending the
term for lawmakers in Russia's lower house of parliament, the Duma, from four
to five years and increasing the power of that body.

His speech ran through a list of
domestic political reforms aimed at helping small parties win more
representation in government and increasing legislative oversight of the
government headed by Putin.

"I'm not talking about
constitutional reform, but about corrections to the constitution,"
Medvedev said in the nationally televised address. "These amendments are
important, but all aimed at making (the constitution) more precise, not
altering the political or legal essence of the existing institutions."

Putin, who ushered Medvedev into
office on the coat-tails of his sky-high popularity, sat in the front row of
the gilded hall next to the head of the dominant pro-Kremlin party Boris
Gryzlov.

The ex-Kremlin leader centralized
power in his eight years in office, for example replacing elections for
regional governors with presidential appointments and consolidating political
life into one pro-Kremlin party.

Medvedev's administration can
easily muster the two-thirds majority in parliament needed to approve changes
to the constitution.

A Kremlin spokesman specified
Wednesday that such amendments would not be put to a referendum.

"Our progress toward freedom
and democracy will be successful and unwavering only if the prestige of the
president and the State Duma is sufficiently high ... and if they have enough
time to put their pledges into practice," Medvedev said. "We will
have to tackle a host of difficult tasks."

Intrigue remains about how much
power Medvedev's mentor-turned- premier Putin still holds in Kremlin decision
making. Originally scheduled for last week, analyst said Medvedev's
state-of-the-nation had been delayed to allow for Putin's advisors to input on
his draft.

Medvedev on Wednesday proposed
making the work of Putin's government accountable to parliament to
counterbalance an extension of the presidential term of office.

He also called for allowing
smaller parties more seats in parliament and giving non-governmental
organizations the right to have a say in draft legislation.

Medvedev said over 5 million
Russian votes are cast for parties that don't make it over the 7 per cent
threshold to enter parliament.

"This is unfair and should be
corrected," Medvedev said, adding that parties who won more than five per
cent should be afforded one or two Duma seats.

He said he would leave the
threshold as is, but proposed that registration of political parties be simplified
by reducing the number of voter signatures required.

Observers warned that an amendment
to the presidential term would allow future presidents to rule for 12 years in
two consecutive terms.